Vending machine



June 25, 1935. G. F. HIGHT El AL 2,006,100

'VENDING MACHINE" File d Nov.-9, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet l 47 /A/;ENTORS 6 MM I 8V V June 25, 1935. G, T r A 2,006,100

VENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 9, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 6.3

June 25, 1935- HlGHT ET AL 2,006,100

VENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 9, 1954 a Sheets-Sheet 5 39 bi l 67m? azz zz Patented June 25, 1935 j 2,006,100

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,006,100 VENDING MACHINE George Fargher Hight and Charles'Henry Webb, Middlesex, England 1 Application November 9, 1934, Serial No. 752,263

a In Great Britain February 27, 1933 1 Claim. (01. sin-51) This invention relates to vending machines of n or twice, of a s n l pap r. Th pp n the type adapted to be actuated by a coin-conde f t p persas they a e d awn from the trolled apparatus and it h s fo it bje t the pile, in the manner hereinafter described, exconstruction of a'machine particularly adapted tends from the front d Of the base plate I i for vending f lded rtie1 h as newspapers, somewhat in the form of a drum 1 so that as said journals, magazines and the like, hereinafter p p are freed from the W d aw ans generally referred t as papers, d t thi end they fall into a chute 8 provided in the front of the invention consists of a casing containing a the main Casing support for a pile of folded articles, means for The means for w r w the p p r X fr m engaging with and withdrawing the lowermost the p r 3 mpr a plurality of w warticle from said pile and delivering same to a fingers (hereafter more y' scr b d) carchute comprising at each end of the machine a Tied y tWO Circular Plates secur d as at H on a fixed plate, a rotating plate positioned adjacent shaft e a e e e ed to as the driven thereto, a plurality of spring actuated plungers t, exte d from One side of the machine mountedin said rotary plate, a spring actuated t0 t her, said shaft being rotatably mounted 15 finger located in each of said plungers coacting in plates l3 and in cam plates I4 rigidly scwith said fixed plate, and means for imparting a cured to the plates l3. The plates 2 and I3 rotary motion to said engaging and withdrawing are secured to a base board l5, the supports of mechanism. which are secured to the bottom of the main cas- In the accompanying drawings which illusing 9. The plates III are each provided with say 20 trate an embodiment of this invention: three longitudinally disposed bosses IS in each Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine; of which is secured a double acting plunger dis- Figure 2 is an end elevation thereof; posed parallel to the axis of the shaft 12, each Figure 3 is a front elevation, on an enlarged of said plungers comprising, as shown in Figures scale, with the cover plates removed; '7 (a) (b) and (c) a hollow plunger l1 slidably 25 Figure 4 is a section on line 44 of Figure 3; arranged in a bore [8 provided in each of the Figure 5 is a section on line 5--5 of Figure 3; bosses 16; a spring l9 arranged to operate be- F u 6 is a s ti n n l ne -6 of ur tween the inner end of the bore Ia and the Figure 7 illustrates in section a detail of conouter face of a plug 20 secured in the inner end struction in three difierent positions a, b and c; of the plunger [1, a further plunger 2| carrying 30 Figure 8 isa front elevation of the coin-freed a, rod or finger 22 located in said plunger, said mechanism W th certa parts d; fingers being above referred to as the withdraw- ,Figure 9 is a section On line of Figure 3, ing fingers, adapted to slide in the plug 20 and and to project through an aperture l8 provided at as Figure 9c s ws the ta portions o the the inner end of the bore I8, said withdrawing side plates at the delivery end of the hopper. finger being pressed into the partly projected Fi ur 10 is a inside w of one of the parts position by a spring 23 located within the plunger jllsed in Said mechanism [1, when the latter is pressed inwardly as here- In the embodiment of the invention illustrated ft r described nd as hown in Figure 7 (b), 40 in the drawings, which will be described for use against outer faces of the plates 2 from which 40 lm delivering papers the Support for the papers an annular strip extending from a point just X comprises an adjustable base plate secured beyond the centre at the top down the front to two top of two end plates said base plate apoint 2 (Figure 5) is removed, and the top verbeing of desired Width and depth accbrding tical edge 2 is cut back as shown at 2* in Figures to the size of the papers to be supported thereon, 5 7 (c) and 9 but more clearly in Figure 9a and a vertically disposed hopper like member 3 Arranged adjacent to and parallel h the having two side walls a back and a removable t fl t f f h of th lates '3 is front plate 3 and the front edges of the side er ace 0 Bag 8 p ar members are each provided with a narrow strip 4 z gi 22 g f fiz 1 32a: i gg zg 0 5 o, eac O 0 dlsposed parallel Wlth the back plate and fur jacent the plate In with an annular cam surface nished at their lower ends with a retaining strip 24 against which the outer ends of the plungers 5 capable of being adjusted vertically so as to D provide means for varying a gap 5 between th IT or parts secured thereto are arranged to slide.

lower edges of said members and the base plate I A type of coin-freed mechanism for use with 5 according to the thickness, preferably folded the machine as above described will now be referred to, with particular reference to Figures 8, 9 and 10.

The cam plate M at one end of the machine is furnished on its outer face with an annular ring forming in the centre of said cam plate a shallow circular recess in which a flat disc 26, hereinafter referred to as the driven disc, is located and adapted to rotate, said driven disc being provided on that face adjacent the plate It) with a centrally disposed boss 26 and set screw 29* by means of which the driven disc is secured to the shaft l2. The outer face of the driven disc 26 is provided with three protecting studs 2'! (Figure 8) equally spaced apart and located at a distance from the outer edge of the plate accordance to the diameter of the coin 28 to be used in the machine. A further circular .disc 29, hereinafter referred to as the driving .disc, of the same diameter as the driven disc 2.6,,1's placed against the latter, said driving disc being provided on its outer face with a boss 39 adapted to be mounted in a bearing '51 forming part of a .cross plate 32 secured at each end to the face of the plate i3. The inner face .of the driving .disc 29'is provided with an annular groove 33 coincident with the studs 2! .on the driven .disc, as indicated in Figures 8 and 1:0; said inner face is also provided with a groove :34, hereinafter referred to as the coin-groove, extending from one side of the disc to the other; one edge of the said coin-groove is straight and passes slightly to one side of the centre (Figure 10'); the other edge is shaped so that the width of the groove atthe centre is less than at the extreme ends. The width of the coin-groove at the entry .end 34 is approximately equal to the diameter of the coin 28; a stud t5 projecting from the inner face of the driving disc is provided for limiting the extent to which a coin of the correct value enters the coin-groove, the arrangement being such that said coin enters slightly below the peripheral edge of the discs 26 and 29.

The annular ring 25 which forms the recess in which the driving and driven discs above .described are located, is slotted or cut away circumferentially approximately to the width of the coins to be used as atSfi, and also at the bottom as at 3! to a somewhat-greater extent. Immediately above the cut away portion .36 and secured to the plate 13 is arranged a coin-chute 38 through which the coins 28 pass from the outside to the coin-groove 34 between the discs; a further coin-chute 3Q is disposed below the cut away portion 32'' into which the coins 28 pass from the coin-groove to" the drawer .40 arranged beneath same.

The extreme end of the boss on the disc 29 passes through the side wall of the main casing 9 and a handle ti is secured thereto by the grub screw 42. The handle 4| and the driving disc 29 are only intended to have a partial rotative movement and to limit and determine the degree of rotation, a stop plate 43 is secured to the side wall of the casing and means are preferably provided for returning the handle 4| to its starting position as shown by the full lines in Figure 2 and such means may consist (as more clearly shown in Figure 6) of a spring 44 arranged to seat in a channel formed in an annular ring 45 provided on the outer face of the driving plate 29, one end of said spring being anchored to a pin 46 secured in the driving plate 29, the other end of said spring being anchored to a pin 41 secured in the base board 15.

The entire mechanism and paper support are contained within the casing 9 with the exception of the operating handle 4!, and so that it may be possible to see whether there are papers in the machine or not, the front plate 3 of the hopper 3 coincident with and above the paper support is preferably provided with a transparent Window 58, said plate being secured in position by alock {l9 and the drawer 49 by a lock 50,.

To enable the plate 3 to be removed to permit folded papers to be placed on the base plate I, the lock 49 is turned to withdraw the bolt 53 thereby enabling the top edge of the plate 3 to pass upwardly to an extent sufficient to permit the lower edge of said plate to pass above the top edge .of the casing 9.

The operation of the machine will now be briefly described.

Assuming the handle 4| is in such a position that the entry end 34* of the coin-groove 34 in the driving disc 29 is coincident with the I slot 36 in the annular ring 25 and coin-chute 3.8, ,a coin 28 is inserted in the slot 51 in the main easing and drops through the coin-chute .38 into the coin-groove 34 where its fall is limited by the stud 35 on the driving disc 29; if the handle 41 is now pulled forward, the driving disc is turned until the coin comes against a stud 2'! on the driven disc 26 thereby locking the two discs together and preventing any independent rotation of one disc apart from the other in a forward direction. Continued movement of the handle and the discs in the same direction rotates the driven shaft and thereby the plunger carrying plates ll); this rotative movement brings one pair of oppositely disposed withdrawing fingers 2.2, the track line of which, on the plates 2, is indicated by the heavy broken line 52 in Figure 19a to the cut away part 2*, which is adjacent the front edge of the folded paper, where said fingers, (which are in the position shown in Figure 7 (b)) having passed from the plate 2 which maintained same in the retracted position, are simultaneously ejected into the folds of the paper (position Figure 7 (c) further rotation of the handle 4! causes the fingers 22 to withdraw the lowermost paper X from the base I (Figure 3), any papers immediately above being prevented from following by the retaining strips 5 on the front edges of the hopper like member 3, until it is discharged from the fingers to the delivery chute 8, and simultaneously with this the fingers 22 are withdrawn into the position shown in Figure 7 (a) by reason of the fact that the ends of the hollow plungers I! have passed from the highest point of the cam surfaces 24 to the lowest (position Figure '7 (c0). When the parts reach this position the coin drops from the coin-groove and through the slot 31 in the bottom of the annular ring 25 into the chute 39 and into the drawer All, leaving the handle M and thereby the driving disc 29 free to be returned, in the reverse direction, to the first position. The a1- rival of one pair of withdrawing fingers at the discharge position also causes a second pair to arrive adjacent the position (Figure 5) where they will be ready to engage the next paper on the insertion of a further coin and the repetition of the operation.

It will be understood that the number of withdrawing fingers and the number of studs on the driven plate of the coin-freed mechanism may be varied as desired according to the amount of travel required and necessitated by the size of the paper.

If an attempt is made to insert a coin of incorfeet size or value in the coin slot, said coin will either not enter the coin-chute or coin-groove or it will pass straight through both to the coin receptacle.

It will be further understood that while the invention has been described with particular reference to the delivery of folded articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, it may also be employed in machines for delivering other articles capable of being folded and packed one above the other, such as towels.

What we claim is:-

In a vending machine for the purpose described, the combination with a casing including an article container, a support for a pile of folded articles, means for engaging with the folds of the lowermost article and drawing the same from beneath the pile including, at each end of the machine, a non-rotating cam plate, a rotary plate positioned adjacent thereto, a plurality of spring actuated plungers mounted in said rotary plate, a spring actuated finger located in each of said plungers coacting with said cam plate, means for preventing the ejection of said fingers during a part of their travel, a shaft upon which said rotary plates are secured rotatably mounted in said cam plates, and means for imparting a rotary movement to said shaft and to the rotary plates.

GEORGE FARGHER HIGHT. CHARLES HENRY WEBB. 

